


The Decay of War

by Marocarrotnoir



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bisexual Character, Colourblind John Laurens, Don’t trust the relationship tags, F/F, F/M, Gay, Gay Character, Henry Laurens' A+ Parenting, Lesbian, Lesbian Character, M/M, Other, SO MUCH SHADE, Slow Burn, The Fifties, War, World War II, everybody’s got secrets, its the unstableness for me, like really slow burn, they don’t make sense now but they will I promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:28:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25820635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marocarrotnoir/pseuds/Marocarrotnoir
Summary: Lafayette still hasn’t forgiven himself for the past. Alex has trust issues and secrets he’d rather not discuss. Peggy is not the same after an event in Guatemala. Angelica is not used to things being out of her control. John’s abusive past is affecting his present relationships. Jefferson feels that if anyone gets hurt, it will be his burden for bringing them along on his journey. Hercules is homesick and constantly worried for the future. Burr does not speak about his family origins.But beloved sister Eliza Schuyler is missing and they will do what it takes to get her back home safely- even if it means giving their own lives for it.A story in which the Nazis are brought back by a man named George Arnold Lafferentz, and Eliza is caught in the crossfire.
Relationships: Aaron Burr/Theodosia Prevost Burr, Alexander Hamilton/Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton/Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette, Alexander Hamilton/John Laurens, Alexander Hamilton/Thomas Jefferson, Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette/Hercules Mulligan, John Laurens/Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette, Maria Reynolds/Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> See notes at the end of the chapter.

**Prologue**

**_April 22, 1952_ **

“Thanks for agreeing to help me out today Laf,” A woman with long, brown hair tied back in a low ponytail said breathlessly as she ran up the concrete orphanage steps.   
  
“Of course mom amie.” Lafayette, dressed in a blue, loose turtle neck tucked into high rise jeans completed with faded blue converse answered, following closely behind her.

“What with all this talk of a war and the attacks going on, I wasn’t about to let you work by yourself with all these children, what if another attack happened while you were here? You wouldn’t be able to protect all the kids by yourself, non.”

The two stepped into the large building and headed towards the front desk, where a woman sat, seemingly reading a magazine.

“Hello Dolly. I’m here to watch the children for bit and read them some stories with my friend here, Lafayette. I do hope you don’t mind, I’d rather not be alone with all the kids at a time like this.” The woman with her hair tied back said to the girl reading a magazine, seemingly named “Dolly”.

“Oh, hello Eliza. Yes that’s just fine, I understand why you’d like to keep a friend with you in times like these.” Dolly answered without looking up from her magazine.

“Just make sure you sign into the sheet along with your friend.” She gestured to the pages sitting in front of her.

“Of course.”

Eliza grabbed the clipboard titled “Sign In” off the clean counter and wrote her name in neat, swirly letters on the column. Handing it to Lafayette, she brushed her powder blue circle skirt off, and fixed her ponytail as if to get rid of any evidence that she had rushed there in a hurry. Heading over to the door to the left of the front desk, the two opened the door to be greeted by six girls and boys, the youngest being five years old and the oldest being eleven. The room was fairly large, big enough to hold four bunk beds near the back and a small play space next to the front door leading out to where Dolly sat at the counter and such. There were two red and green couches sitting at the play space, their purpose mostly being to liven up the otherwise dull room. It wasn’t huge, but it was home for the six orphans that lived there.

“Eliza!” A little boy at the age of seven ran over to hug her happily.

“Hello everybody,” Eliza greeted them warmly, while the other kids joined her in the front of the room to hug her as well. 

“Who is that?” Another older girl pointed at Lafayette suspiciously.

“This is my friend Lafayette. He’s here to play with you guys, and no pointing Ellie, it’s inappropriate.”

Ellie was a dark haired girl with dull brown eyes that have seen too many tragedies to sparkle anymore. She was the oldest at eleven years old, but her maturity age was much higher, somewhere around late teens. Ellie was the mother of the group, making sure none of the other kids accidentally killed them selves when no one was looking. She was the one that stayed up at night with them when they had nightmares, and she was the one who comforted them when they cried about their parents and how they felt like they didn’t belong. 

“Hello children. I hope to have fun with you all today and read some stories.” Lafayette answered awkwardly, he wasn’t the greatest with kids. 

“He talks funny.” Ellie said bluntly to Eliza, earning a stern look from her. 

“He has an accent because he is from France. And let’s remember our manners shall we Ellie?” 

“Wow! He’s from France?” The little boy who hugged Eliza and is still clinging to her hand next to her exclaimed.   
“What’s it like there? Is it pretty? Have you ever seen the Eiffel Tower?”

Lafayette smiled and went to sit on one of the small multi-coloured couches they had in the room to answer the children’s many questions. The small group of kids followed along with Eliza, a relieved expression on her face. She wasn’t sure if the kids would like him. They could be a bit wary when it came to new people. While the kids kept bombarding Laf with questions of France, Eliza sat, thinking of all that been going on. 

_“I do hope this fight between Germany does not last long.”_   
She didn’t dare say the word “war” as a fear of jinxing the situation.

 _“We just stopped clashing with the countries only seven years ago. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to handle another worldwide conflict so soon.”_

Eliza looked to the children, who were now all separating, some playing with some toys and others running around with Laf making up games of their own. 

_“I don’t want them to have to grow up in the middle of all these attacks and constantly scared for their life.”_   
She cared about the kids as if they were her own. She would never forgive herself if something happened to them on her watch.   
  
“Um, Ms. Eliza?” A small voice took Eliza out of her thoughts and back into the real world.

“Yes, Zilla?” 

“Do you think that maybe, you could read a book to me?” The shy six year old asked her, looking down at the floor. 

“Of course sweetie! What book would you like to read?” 

“Maybe... _Madeline_ please?” Zilla -a short, green eyed girl- said, pointing at the book laying next to her in a stack with the other books Eliza had brought.   
Eliza hummed in agreement and grabbed the book out of the stack as Zilla placed herself in Elizas lap snuggling up against her. Opening the book, Eliza began reading to the girl while Laf looked on secretly in the background. He was happy that Eliza could find peace with the children, even with all that was going on in the world at the moment.

Lafayette had problems of his own. He felt personally responsible to make sure all his friends were safe and taken care of in these times of crisis. The stress of all that was going on had been taking it’s toll on him, but he’d be damned if anyone found out that Marquis de Lafayette, a carefree, constantly sunny and calm person would be freaking out over something so stupid? Well, maybe it’s not stupid I mean the world is on the brink of war and all that but- still, he was never going to let the people closest to him find out that he wasn’t as strong as they thought. Somebody needed to be their lifeline so everything didn’t fall apart. And he knew that the others also had Angelica, Burr, and Thomas to be the adults but he felt as if he should be the person who didn’t change no matter what. So something could feel remotely normal or familiar during all this unsettling craziness. 

Lafayette turned his gaze back to Eliza, who had multiple kids gathering around her listening to her read now.

 _“Our family and friends were lucky last time, we weren’t old enough to get drafted, but we are not so fortunate this time around,”_ he thought with a slowly increasing dread that hasn’t left fully left him in weeks now. 

_“And now that they’ve decided to draft both man and woman, it could be any of us.”_

Laf sighed and attempted to put those thoughts behind him as he left to sit down with Eliza and the children to listen to stories. He knew for as long as this goes on however, they would never be completely gone. Smiling at Eliza, he tuned into the story she was reading now, a book by the name of “ _Where the Wild Things Are_ ”. 

“...his mother called him “WILD THING!” and Max said “I’LL EAT YOU UP!” So he was sent to bed without eating anything.” 

Eliza spoke, giving emphasis to the sentences like a first grade teacher would when reading a book to their students.

“That very night in Max’s room a forest grew,” the children gasped, wanting to know what happened next. 

“And grew...” Eliza said slowly to increase the suspension. 

“And grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around!”

She said excitedly causing the kids to jump, but still keeping their eyes on the story. Suddenly, a loud bang is heard from outside the door, followed by voices and everybody falls silent for a moment, confused. 

“What was that?” Ellie whispered to Eliza, who only put a finger to her lips in response. 

“Everybody, I need you to go to that corner,” Eliza pointed to the farthest corner in the room, behind a bunk bed. 

“And hide behind that bed _quietly_.” 

The small group listened to her and tiptoed to the corner with no words. Ellie made sure to hide the youngest ones the farthest back and the older kids farther out so the youngest weren’t seen if they moved around. Lafayette silently gave Eliza a look and the two adults creeped towards the front door, opening it slightly to peek out. Dolly was not at the front desk anymore and instead three tall men wearing uniforms stood there, seemingly looking for other people. Laf watched as Elizas face paled, the realization dawning on her. 

“Nazi soldiers.” Laf whispered, the anxiety rising in his throat. 

“We can’t let them find the kids,” Eliza gasped, fearing the worst if the kids were found. 

Eliza opened the door a bit more, looking to see if anyone else was in the front room other than the three soldiers. Thankfully, they were the only ones. Their chances of making it through this were low, but with only three soldiers here, they weren’t completely hopeless. 

“What do we do?” Laf asked Eliza, he hadn’t been in a situation like this before and wasn’t sure how to handle it. He knew he had to stay strong, but he was at a loss. For once, Laf really wanted Eliza to take the lead on this. 

“I’m not sure, maybe hide?” 

“Good idea.” 

But before they could leave the door to hide, they overheard one of the soldiers speak. 

“Hey, have we checked this door!” 

“No, go look and see if anyone’s in there.” 

“Merde,” Lafayette cursed, pulling back from the door, dragging Eliza with him. 

“We have to hide, now!” Running back, the two ducked behind one of the couches just as the door was kicked open revealing two of the three soldiers. 

“I don’t see anyone but they could be hiding.” Soldier #1 called back to the other that was still by the front desk. 

“Well then start looking!” 

Eliza sucked in her breath, as if they’d be able to hear their breathing and find them. She looked to where the kids were and saw that Ellie was struggling to keep the youngest ones quiet. The raven-haired girl was putting her finger over her lips in attempts to get them to realize that they were in danger but they didn’t listen. Zilla opened her mouth to talk but Ellie quickly put her hand over her mouth, shushing her. Thank god Zilla got the message but as Ellie took her hand off, she shifted slightly and hit the bunk beds metal leg, creating a small but noticeable clang that drew Soldier #1’s attention. 

“Hey, over here.” He called to the Soldier #2, gesturing towards the corner the sound came from.

Eliza gasped, as they slowly approached the corner, inching closer and closer to the kids. 

“No.” She mumbled only loud enough for Laf to hear and stood up. 

Grabbing Elizas arm, Laf pulled her back down. 

“What are you doing?” He sharply whispered to her, unaware of how close the soldiers were getting to the children. 

“I can’t let them take the kids. I’m sorry.” She stood up once again, pulling away from Lafayette’s desperate grasp. 

“Eliza _no_.” 

But she wouldn’t take it. With the soldiers only feet away from the kids she couldn’t let herself just stand by and let them get taken.   
  
“Lafayette, I love you. But I cannot let these kids get taken in exchange for me. I’d never forgive myself for standing idly by. Tell the others I love them too, and that I’ll see them again one day...”

And with that, Eliza withdrew from the couches safety and towards the front door. Lafayette froze, unable to move from where he was. Eliza stopped in front of the door and promptly banged her leg against it as hard as she could to make it look like she was trying to evade them. The soldiers quickly turned away from the corner and saw her attempting to “escape”. 

“Hey get back here!” Soldier #1 hollered to Eliza as she ran out of the door. 

However, she didn’t get far for the second soldier reached out and grabbed her before she could get out the doorway. All Lafayette could do was watch in horror as Eliza was seized by the two soldiers. 

“Is there anyone else in there?” The third soldier asked from the other room. 

“Not that we saw sir.” 

“Ok, let’s go and bring this girl back to the other prisoners.”

Just before the two soldiers dragged Eliza out of the room however, she looked slowly over to where Lafayette hid. Gazing directly into his eyes with her tranquil, golden chocolate brown eyes that could calm even the most panicked person with just a look, she faintly smiled. A sickeningly sweet, yet melancholy smile, as if she was saying goodbye forever. Laf struggled to breathe as Eliza was whisked away from him to an unpredictable future and in seconds, he couldn’t see her anymore. Sitting there, staring at where she was last seen, Lafayette felt silent tears roll down his face in painfully numbing loss. 

_“Eliza...”_


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See notes at the end of the chapter.

_**February 24, 1952** _

“Ow, Jefferson! Pay attention to where your going!”

A flurry of vibrant multi-coloured flowers fall to the ground with a thump, along with a very displeased woman dressed in a bubblegum pink dress flowing out underneath her. 

“Sorry Angelica...”

Thomas Jefferson, the taller, tired-looking man holding a few bouquets of roses in his muscles arms grumbled, a bit frustrated. After putting down the numerous bouquets he’d held before onto a nearby counter, Jefferson helped the agitated woman pick up the flowers she’d dropped and put them back into the beige wicker basket they had previously been in. Pulling Angelica up onto her feet again, Thomas sighed, slumping against the counter he put the roses onto earlier. 

“I don’t understand why I have to help you everyday here I mean, you seem to do just fine without me,” he whined, looking over at Angelica, acting as if he’d been overworked for days. 

“ _Because_ ,” Angelica started, placing down the basket next to the other flowers in her display window, turning to face the stress-inducing man. 

“All you do is volunteer at the elementary school, which might I add doesn’t make any money, and I _do_ need the extra help around here, despite what you think.” 

“But, I don’t wanna work here,” Thomas said, drawing out “here” and sticking out his bottom lip, in a pouting manner. 

“Well, you already blew your chances at working with Aaron as a waiter when you told one of their customers that they dressed like the “pits of fashion” during a shift. You know you almost got Burr fired for that right?” 

“You won’t let me forget.” 

“-Then Hercules stopped letting you hang out at the tailoring shop while he worked when you got into all of the sewing supplies and accidentally ruined almost 200 dollars worth of fabrics-”

“I thought it smelled weird so I lit a candle, how was I supposed to know the fabric was so flammable?“

“-You drove Lafayette so crazy while he was photographing scenery because you wouldn’t shut up that he wasn’t paying attention and fell into a pond along with an $100 camera-“

“He should’ve looked where he was going.“ 

“-And let’s not forget the time Peggy and John took you on their rounds at the hospital and you screamed bloody murder when a patient was brought in with part of a fence impaling them-“

“-There was so much blood!” 

Angelica smacked her face in defeat, groaning loudly at the idiocy of Thomas Jefferson.

“Look, the point is Jefferson, there is quite literally nowhere else for you to go, so get used to working here.” 

Picking up the rose bouquets, the annoyed woman shoved them into Jefferson’s arms giving him a stern look. Turning away from the sassy 23 year old, Angelica grabbed the basket of flowers she had dropped earlier and silently continued on with her work placing the brightly coloured plants meticulously in her wooden display, so focused on where they were positioned it was as if she’d hadn’t stopped in the first place. Thomas gave one final moan and trudged away from the counter, taking the bouquets with him in defeat. He never won arguments with Angelica Schuyler, no matter how hard he tried. 

Thomas Jefferson was a 6’0 tall male with expresso skin and umber brown eyes, who’s favourite hobby was criticizing people for how they dressed. He was part of the oldest group along with Angelica and Aaron Burr at 23 years, and often volunteered at the elementary school down the street from Angelicas shop, where he worked shifts every day. Jefferson has an incredible ability to piss people off in record times and was by far, the sassiest person Angelica knew. Still, he had a soft spot for children and loved teaching the kids at the school about English and every once in a while, he’d be able to fit in a fashion lesson.   
Dropping the bouquets of roses respectively into their buckets, Thomas heard the ding of a person entering the shop behind him. Automatically knowing who it was based on the time of 5:30pm, and who visited every day then, he spoke before even turning around to see the person.

“Hey James,”

James Madison, red in the face from all of the biking around he’d been doing delivering mail that day, dropped himself down at the counter top quickly with a copy of the daily news in his sweaty hands. 

“Hey Thomas, you’ll never guess what’s in the news today,” Madison spoke, breathing heavily as if he’d rushed over as quickly as possible to talk to them. 

“What’s up?” 

“Well,” The exhausted man started, wiping the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead, taking a deep breath in beforehand. 

“Turns out, there’s been rumors of a man in Germany picking up from where Hitler left off of back in ‘45. Everyone’s talkin’ about it.” 

Thomas snorted in disbelief, causing James to portray a confused expression at him. Angelica joined the two in the front of the shop, wondering why Jefferson was laughing as well. 

“What’s so funny Tom?” Angie asked, coming to stand next to him. Thomas took the newspaper from James and held it out for her to see. 

“Look at the headline!” He said in between giggles, pointing at the front page. 

“ _Rumors of Man Continuing From Where Hitler Left Off In 1945 Sweeps The Nation_ ,” Angelica read off the page, each word becoming harder and harder for her to take serious. 

“Really?” Angie asked James, who only nodded his head in response.   
For a moment Angelica paused, only looking over the newspaper again making sure it was real. Jefferson stopped laughing for a second to look over at the exceptionally quiet woman, a bit worried that she wasn’t saying anything. Suddenly, Angelica put her head down and began shaking, concerning Thomas and James, who grasped her left arm in worry.

“Angelica...are you ok?” James said, afraid she was crying. Then without warning, Angelica laughed abruptly loud, making both both men jump in surprise. The Schuyler sister kept laughing however, so hard in fact that she held onto Jefferson for support, who was still recovering from the shock of her first deafening, hearty laugh. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Angelica gasped for breath after her fit of giggles she’d just experienced. 

“Oh please,” she chuckled.   
  
“Like anyone would ever follow him. People learned their lesson with Hitler, well enough to know not to follow yet another person like him.”

Throwing the newspaper back on the counter in front of James, Angelica let her grip on Thomas go and she strided over to the front desk to count the money in the cashier at the end of the day, while still listening to James and Thomas talk.

“But it’s true! People are scared that we might go back to war with Germany.” James protested to the disbelievers who only scoffed in turn. 

“Come on James, no one’s gonna fall for that crap again.” Thomas said, seating himself next to the other at the countertop. 

“It’s already been done. Whoever’s doing this is simply unoriginal. He’s just copying what Hitler did. Get your own material man!”   
He yelled to no one in particular. Jefferson proceeded to pretend the conversation was over, flip open a pocket mirror, and set it down on the table to fix his already-perfect hair, making sure every coily strand was in its place while James just stared on in incredulity.

“While Jefferson says it in the moronic way possible, he does make a point. Nobody’s gonna fall for something like that again. They know better. Therefore, there will be no war. People just overreact all the time over nothing.” Angie stated from the cashier, making Thomas childishly stick his tongue out at her and snap shut the pocket mirror. 

“Well,” James said, rising from his seat, collecting anything that was his he had brought in to the shop with him. 

“I suggest y’all be careful anyway, ok? Make sure to tell the others I said hi, yeah?” 

“Of course James, we’ll do that. Have a nice day and stay out of trouble.” 

Angelica waved goodbye to the mailman as he exited the flower shop, leaving Jefferson alone with her once again. The woman tightened the salmon pink headband in her long, brown, curly hair, and pushed the cashier closed. Quickly writing down a few numbers on a sheet of paper and pushing it inside an envelope she left on the small front desktop, Angie sighed in relief, walking to the front door. Flipping the hanging plastic sign on its other side marked “closed”, she smiled. 

“We are officially finished with work.” 

Thomas sprung up, suddenly filled with energy that seemed to materialize out of thin air and he bounced around, clearly excited to go home. 

“Ugh, finally! Im so sick of this poorly decorated shop with horrible interior design!” 

Rolling her eyes at the fashionista, Angelica grabbed her bag off the desk and made her way to the back door through the storage room to leave. Jefferson followed, a small jump in his step making his paces look odd. Angie made sure the back door was locked as Thomas bounded down the street without waiting for her. She quietly smiled at the carefree skipping man, and joined him in dancing down the concrete sidewalk all the way home.   
  
  
* * * 

“We’re home!” 

“In the kitchen!” A feminine voice called from down the hallway to Angelica and Thomas, who dropped their bags down next to the front door, removing their coats and shoes as well. Angie groaned at how messy the space was with shoes and bags thrown everywhere and coats not on their respective hooks, knowing she’d have to fix it all later. Letting it be for now, the two walked down the white-walled hallway, Jefferson sliding across the sleek wooden floor.   
Entering what looked to be the kitchen area, Jefferson headed straight for the fridge as Angelica sat down next to John Laurens, still dressed in his white nurse scrubs from work. He had bags under his eyes, and sat with a cup of ice water in front of him, chewing on a straw plunged in the drink. The disheveled man’s frizzy hair was still tied up in a low ponytail, and Angelica frowned at his form.

“Hey, no raiding the fridge! I’m almost done with dinner!”   
Peggy Schuyler, the youngest of the Schuyler sisters, swatted at Jefferson, who was trying to take grapes to snack on. She pushed Thomas out the kitchen, who kept whining about how hungry he was but she wouldn’t have it. Nobody ate before dinner was finished. Once Peggy finally got the annoying man out of her sight, she returned to the pasta she was making, silently checking over her shoulder to make sure Jefferson didn’t come back and steal something from the fridge without her knowing. 

“Hey John, looks like you had a long day at the hospital,” Angelica said to the clearly exhausted man sitting beside her. 

“Yeah, I was moving nonstop today. Typical Sunday morning there. So many people getting drunk the night before and doing stupid shit to get hurt,”

John yawned, slumping back in his seat. 

“You look a mess, let me fix your hair,” The oldest Schuyler sister insisted, moving John to face away from her so she could fix the tangled ponytail his hair was in. He didn’t even try to protest, for she would get her way no matter what and Laurens knew she was always gentle with his hair. Pulling the elastic tie from his thick, curly hair, Angelica got up to grab one of the brushes from a drawer in the counters- they always had one on hand because of how many of them had long, kinky hair- and began brushing through Laurens’ brown, wavy locks, making sure to rake through a small amount of water first. 

“So,” Angie started as she fixed Johns hair.   
“Has anyone else gotten home yet?”

“No, just you guys,” Peggy said from the sink while she drained the rigatoni pasta into the strainer, releasing a cloud of steam. 

“Herc called from the tailor shop saying he’ll be a little late so he could finish this suit he was almost done with and Laf’s with him but we haven’t heard from the others at all yet.” 

“Alright. Do you know if Eliza will be staying late at the orphanage again to put the children to sleep?”   
John winced as Angie pulled a stubborn knot in his ends out quickly.

“I don’t think so. She would’ve called if she was going to.”   
Peggy poured the rigatoni back into the pot and began stirring in red sauce in with it. Angelica finished getting the knots out of Johns hair and pulled it into a clean, tight ponytail behind his head. 

“Thanks Angie.” John said, turning to face her in his chair at the island. 

“Why don’t you go change out of those gross scrubs quickly and come back down for dinner? I can’t stand the sight of them.”   
John nodded in agreement and stood up to go upstairs and change out of his work clothes just as Peggy finished cooking dinner for everybody. Leaving the pot of pasta on the stovetop, Peggy washed her hands quickly and went to sit next to her sister.

“How was work at the flower shop today?” She asked, taking a sip of John’s water he’d left on the island. 

“It was good. Jefferson constantly complaining is never new but you’ll never guess what was in the paper today- by the way James says hi.” 

“What’d it say? And tell him I said hi back.” 

“Of course. It said that some guy in Germany is trying to continue what Hitler did all those years ago and crap.”   
Peggy gasped, surprised by the news. She was only thirteen when the war with Germany finally ended but she could remember clearly just how devastating it was to the world.

“No way. Do you think he’ll succeed?” Angelica laughed once again at how people believed that whoever this was would be able to do what Hitler did all over again. 

“Ha! No. There’s no chance people will follow someone like that again. He’d never be able to build an empire like Hitler did again.” 

“But...it’s possible right?” Peggy fretted, sipping on Johns drink nervously. Angelica saw Peggy’s fear reaction to this and felt a bit guilty that she laughed. Biting her lip, she thought of something to say to make her little sister feel better. 

“Look Pegs, theres no way someone would have that much power again. Not in a million years.” 

“Not in a million years?” 

“Not in a _million_ years.” Angelica said reassuringly, successfully easing Peggy’s mind a bit. Angelica looked down at the sunny yellow dress Peggy was wearing and pushed her lips together, a small smile tugging at them. 

“Peggy...you spilled red sauce on your dress,” She snickered, pointing at the stain.   
Peggy looked down, her cheeks tinting pink seeing the sauce stained on her top.

“Oops.” The embarrassed girl awkwardly giggled, standing up from her chair. 

“I’ll be right back, I’m just gonna change out of this into something else real quick,” As Peggy raced out of the room to go change, John emerged from the hallway, followed by the peculiar walking Thomas Jefferson, who’s eyes lit up at the sight of food. 

“Dinner!” He excitedly ran towards the stove like a little kid, swiftly opening the cupboard to grab out a bowl. John, who was now dressed in a tucked in white shirt with an unbuttoned, oversized gray and white polo as well as high waisted jeans, reached for a bowl as well to put pasta in. Jefferson plopped himself down on the couch in the large living room, propping up his legs next to him, and began hungrily eating. Laurens took a seat next to Angelica once again and began munching on his food as well, a bit slower than Tom. The front door was heard being unlocked and pushed open from the outside by the three and they turned to see which person if would be this time.   
To their (not so) surprise, it was in fact two people, not one. Eliza Schuyler and Aaron Burr, who had both just finished their own shifts, Eliza at the local orphanage taking care of all the children there, and Burr at a restaurant by the name of “The Melting Pot”. Eliza, a relatively tall woman with straight, dark brown hair and chocolate eyes to match, warmly smiled at the group giving them a happy greeting and hugging each of them in turn. Aaron Burr, still wearing his uniform from the restaurant acknowledged them as well, heading straight to the pot of pasta as soon as he noticed it. 

“Hey guys, how was today?” John asked between bites of food. 

“Oh just magnificent! The kids loved the books I brought and want me to bring them back again!” Eliza said happily, her periwinkle blue cocktail dress drifting out behind her as she walked. 

“I don’t understand why you like that horribly plain outfit so much Burr, you have normal clothes! Wear them!” Jefferson called from the couch, making Aaron roll his eyes at the older male. 

“It’s comfortable and my other clothes are basically the same anyway. What I don’t understand is why you feel the need to dress so uniquely and out of order!” 

“Hey! My clothes are extremely fashionable, thank you very much.” 

While the two men continued to bicker back and forth, Peggy emerged from the white hallway, now wearing a lemon yellow and eggshell striped blouse with high waisted jeans matching John’s. Huffing out slightly, Pegs copied what everyone else had done, and made herself a bowl of pasta. Noticing that Angelica hadn’t gotten one herself yet, the youngest Schuyler put together a bowl for her sister as well. Placing the bowl in front of Angie, Peggy sat herself down in the empty seat on the left of John filling the last chair at the island. 

“Thanks Pegs,” Angelica gratefully addressed her, watching as she stole Laurens drink once again, putting an irritated look on his freckled face. 

For a moment it was silent, everybody quietly chewing on their food in content. Jefferson sprawled out on one of the sleek gray couches, Eliza and Burr next to each other on the matching couch against the wall to the right, and Angelica, John, and Peggy sitting at the island in the middle of the kitchen together facing away from the others. The group simply sat there, peacefully enjoying each other’s company as they ate their dinner for they didn’t get to just enjoy the moment often like this. It was as if time stood still, and not a single person dared speak, afraid of ruining it.

The silence only ended when the front door was heard opening yet again, revealing Marquis de Lafayette and Hercules Mulligan. 

“Hey y’all, how you doin’?” Hercules greeted the group with Lafayette, who also said a form of greeting to them. 

“Good. Dinners on the stove if you’re hungry.” Peggy said gesturing to the pot in the kitchen. 

“You all look very exhausted. Had a long day I assume?” Lafayette asked, his French accent thick in his tongue. He was still getting the hang of learning English and often said sentences oddly.   
Most of the group merely nodded to the tall man, their food stuffed in their mouths.

“It’s definitely been a long day for us all,” Angelica answered him when realizing nobody else was going to. 

“Ooh ooh!” Jefferson waved his arm around wildly to get the attention of Angie from the couch, clearly having something to say. 

“Tell them about what was in the paper today!” 

Hercules and Laf looked at the woman questioningly, waiting to be told. 

“Well, turns out some guy in Germany is trying to continue from where Hitler left off back in ‘45 and bring the Nazis back.” 

The room (excluding Thomas and Peggy) simultaneously gasped, shocked by the news. 

“Yes I believe I did hear about that while I was taking pictures in the park today.” Laf gave a thoughtful look to Angelica, attempting to remember when he’d heard about it. 

“Do you think he’ll be able to?” Eliza questioned, clearly distressed from the announcement. 

“No way. Just like I told Peggy, this guy will never be able to get enough people on his side, not after Hitler. Not in a million years.” Angelica firmly assured Eliza along with the others, helping them feel better about the situation. 

“I guess so...” Peggy trailed off as she handed Burr her bowl, who was collecting them to put in the sink for Jefferson to wash.   
One thing Jefferson would always do in the household without fail was wash dishes. He never let anyone else do them, he just didn’t trust people to wash them correctly and would even go back and clean them again if someone else did it instead.

The group quickly disregarded the situation, separating to do different things. Jefferson flipped on the box tv they had in the living room and turned on a boring soap opera he liked to watch, but everyone else hated. Burr began arguing with him once again about who should be the one to choose what to watch and Peggy continued reading a book she’d previously started on one of the couches, easily blocking out the loud men. John stumbled up the stairs muttering something about going to sleep to no one in particular, and headed to the guest room which was essentially his room anyway, he slept in it so often.

“Well, we should be headin’ home   
ourselves, don’t want our folks worryin’ about us,” Hercules said to Angelica and Eliza, placing his empty bowl in the sink after Lafayette.

“Thanks for makin’ dinner Peggy, see y’all tomorrow,” which only got a small grunt from Peggy in response, who was already too focused on her story to really hear what he said. With that, the two left the couple older Schuyler sisters at the island alone. 

“Hey, Angelica?” Eliza’s silvery, gentle voice got the attention of the other woman, turning to face her sister. 

“Yeah, what’s up?” 

“Do you think this guy, whoever he is, will actually be able to do what Hitler did again?”   
The concerned tone in Eliza’s voice made Angelica a bit worried that she’d take this situation too seriously. Eliza was kind and one of the sweetest people Angelica knows, but she got worried over nothing sometimes.

“No, I don’t think so. This man, he is not capable of doing something like this. Doesn’t matter who he may be, no one will follow him because we have been through this once before. We know how it ends already. It would be foolish to go through it again and that is the truth.”

This answer seemed to calm Eliza, because she smiled softly at Angelica, resting her head against her more mature sisters shoulder, closing her eyes. She sighed quietly as Angie put her head on top of Elizas, silently wishing she could stay in this moment of peace longer.

“I know you’re right. You always are.”

_If only that were true._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you so much if you left kudos on my last chapter and I hope you all love this chapter as well! I hope to have my next chapter out within the week once again:)


	3. Chapter Two

Being woken up by slamming doors and screaming children was nothing new in a day in the life of Alexander Hamilton. If anything, he’d be surprised if he wasn’t woken up by 7:30am by some drugged up lunatic smacking into the thin walls at his tiny apartment home in the hallways, causing a multitude of tired parents working night shifts and hipster junkies trying to smoke weed in peace to come out of their own studios and yell at whoever was making noise in the hall. Alex has gotten used to it by then, he’d been living in this shithole for almost a year by now. 

When Alexander’s mother died last year of disease, he was forced to live with his mentally unstable, poor cousin who tried his hardest to provide for the two of them. Unfortunately, Alex seemed to be the tipping point for his cousin because only a week ago, he killed himself in the apartment, leaving Alex with close to nothing and limited days with shelter before he would be evicted for not paying bills. Being in tough situations was nothing new for Alexander, but this was the first time he was truly alone. He’d always had his mother or some sort of family member looking after him, but there was no one left to help anymore. He was on his own. 

Groaning, Alex rubbed his eyes, shying away from the light streaming in through his crooked blinds. He stretched out, making his back pop a bit from the awkward position he’d been in on the tiny and torn up twin mattress that was far too small for him. Sitting up slowly he yawned and pulled the thin sheet he used as a blanket last night– as well as many nights before– and got up to get dressed for a long day at the supermarket where he was forced to pretend to be excited about overpriced food that is probably expired already just for a shitty bit of money to pay for basic necessities. What a great life he had. Stumbling into the extremely clustered bathroom Alex had, he began brushing his teeth with a frayed, worn out toothbrush and then washed his face and put on deodorant. There was no time in the mornings to shower, only at night, so he got dressed in the same old clothes he always wore. Alex only had two shirts and three pairs of pants to match, so there wasn’t much of a choice on what to wear. Whatever was clean would work just fine. Today, that was a plain solid black polo and loose jeans that were slightly too big for him. They had previously been his cousins so they didn’t exactly fit but it didn’t make a difference to him. It meant he had an extra piece of clothing so he didn’t mind. Putting his shoulder length brown hair up into a bun using a hair tie, Alex decided it would be best to skip breakfast that day for both money and time purposes, rushing out the door with nothing but his apartment keys in his pockets. As he walked down the long hallway with rows of doors containing other locals living there, he could hear faint arguing floating through the walls, though most people were still sleeping. Reaching the end of the hall, he cringed knowing he’d have to go past the Danger Room.   
The simple name itself usually told people all that they needed to know about the room and who lived there, but I’ll further elaborate for you. The Danger Room was home to a group of teens and young adults in which all they did was sell and use different narcotics, have sex, and piss off everyone else in the building. Nobody knew who the apartment actually belonged to, because there were random people constantly coming and going, so it was difficult to keep track. Alexander was a bit familiar with one of the many hipters living there, Alyssa. Alyssa was a short, twenty year old blonde woman with hazel eyes, that had quickly taken a like to Alex back when he first moved in with his cousin. In reality, Alyssa was Alex’s best friend in this shitty place. The only other orphan he knew that could understand what he’d been through. As of recently, anytime she saw Alex, she would attempt to get him to come in and hang out with her, but for the most part he was smart enough to say no. Unfortunately, Alyssa was quite stubborn and did not give up easily. One of the very few reasons Alex is not looking forward to getting out of this place. He will most definitely miss Alyssa and her crazy personality.

Being woken up by slamming doors and screaming children was nothing new in a day in the life of Alexander Hamilton. If anything, he’d be surprised if he wasn’t woken up by 7:30am by some drugged up lunatic smacking into the thin walls at his tiny apartment home in the hallways, causing a multitude of tired parents working night shifts and hipster junkies trying to smoke weed in peace to come out of their own studios and yell at whoever was making noise in the hall. Alex has gotten used to it by then, he’d been living in this shithole for almost a year by now. 

When Alexander’s mother died last year of disease, he was forced to live with his mentally unstable, poor cousin who tried his hardest to provide for the two of them. Unfortunately, Alex seemed to be the tipping point for his cousin because only a week ago, he killed himself in the apartment, leaving Alex with close to nothing and limited days with shelter before he would be evicted for not paying bills. Being in tough situations was nothing new for Alexander, but this was the first time he was truly alone. He’d always had his mother of some family member looking after him, but there was no one left to help anymore. He was on his own. 

Groaning, Alex rubbed his eyes shying away from the light streaming in through his crooked blinds. He stretched out, making his back pop a bit from the awkward position he’d been in on the tiny and torn up twin mattress that was far too small for him. Sitting up slowly he yawned and pulled the thin sheet he used as a blanket last night– as well as many nights before– and got up to get dressed for a long day at the supermarket where he was forced to pretend to be excited about overpriced food that is probably expired already just for a shitty bit of money to pay for basic necessities. What a great life he had. Stumbling into the extremely clustered bathroom Alex had, he began brushing his teeth with a frayed, worn out toothbrush and then washed his face and put on deodorant. There was no time in the mornings to shower, only at night, so he got dressed in the same old clothes he always wore. Alex only had two shirts and three pairs of pants to match, so there wasn’t much of a choice on what to wear. Whatever was clean would work just fine. Today, that was a plain solid black polo and loose jeans that were slightly too big for him. They had previously been his cousins so they didn’t exactly fit but it was alright. It meant he had an extra piece of clothing so he didn’t mind. Putting his shoulder length brown hair up into a bun using a hair tie, Alex decided it would be best to skip breakfast that day for both money and time purposes, rushing out the door with nothing but his apartment keys in his pockets. As he walked down the long hallway with rows of doors containing other locals living there, he could hear faint arguing floating through the walls, though most people were still sleeping. Reaching the end of the hall, he cringed knowing he’d have to go past the Danger Room. The simple name itself usually told people all that they needed to know about the room and who lived there, but I’ll further elaborate for you. The Danger Room was home to a group of teens and young adults in which all they did was sell and use different narcotics, have sex, and piss off everyone else in the building. Nobody knew who the apartment actually belonged to, because there were random people constantly coming and going, so it was difficult to keep track. Alexander was a bit familiar with one of the many prostitutes living there, Alyssa. Alyssa was a short, twenty year old blonde woman with hazel eyes, that had quickly taken a like to Alex back when he first moved in with his cousin. In reality, Alyssa was Alex’s best friend in this shitty place. The only other orphan he knew that could understand what he’d been through. As of recently, anytime she saw Alex, she would attempt to get him to come in and hang out with her, but for the most part he was smart enough to say no. Unfortunately, Alyssa was quite stubborn and did not give up easily. One of the very few reasons Alex is not looking forward to getting out of this place. He will most definitely miss Alyssa and her crazy personality.

Quietly sneaking past The Danger Room as best he could, he silently prayed that no one from the room would come out and see him coming through and alert Alyssa. Today, he was lucky. Stepping out of the hallway through the front doors, he breathed out in relief. Now he wouldn’t be late to work. Quickly taking off down the street, he continued on to the supermarket where he worked, which was only a few minutes away from where he lived. The sounds of cars speeding past and music playing from different buildings he walked past was familiar, a feeling Alex did not feel often. Noise was comforting for him, and he hated it when it was silent. It was stressful for him, as if he needed the sound to know he wasn’t alone and such, and that he wasn’t abandoned again. 

“Swirls of sand and other debris hit the huddled children, blinding them. The wind howled, making their cut ears ring painfully and hold onto each other tighter for safety. Nobody was coming to help them.”

As Alexander arrived at the market, he stared at the front doors in despair, not enthusiastic for another tedious day at the cursed place. He sighed, pushing through the doors, heading to his station, pulling his plain black uniformed apron with the stores logo embroidered on it over his head, tying the string behind his back.

“One more day, just one more day and I’m out of here.” 

With thoughts of how close he was to leaving this horrible job– and this country in general– filling his head, he began turning on the light to show his station was open, when a stern looking man approached him, an unenthusiastic expression on his wrinkled face.

“Alexander. Cutting it close again with time again are we?” The chubby man said irritably, causing Alex to stop and face him.

“I’m sorry sir, it won’t happen again.” He answered hastily, tensing up at the overbearing presence of his boss. 

“It better not. I’m this close to firing you.” Alexander’s manager harshly snapped at him, making him flinch. 

“Take those empty boxes over there, take them out back, and put them in the dumpster, got it? Hopefully you ”

The higher figure pointed a fat finger towards a pile of cardboard boxes next to the two, huffing out slightly at the effort of lifting his arm. Alexander nodded quickly, heading over to the boxes.

“Yes sir.”

Swiftly heading towards the pile, Alex stacked a few of the boxes to make them easier to carry, and brought them to the alley behind his workplace, breaking the bins down flat so there was more space in the dumpster afterwards. From there, he continued going back and forth, taking the boxes a stack at a time, breaking them down, and throwing them in the garbage can. About thirty minutes later, Alex was finished. Sweaty and exhausted, but finished. 

Going in the direction of the restroom, the exceptionally short man was suddenly stopped by his boss yet again.

“Finished I see. Finally, I need you to put away those vegetables in their correct stands.”

Before Alex could even answer however, his tiresome boss walked away, off to reprimand some other poor employee that hadn’t done anything wrong. The worn out, poorly dressed man looked at the crates with a hint of disgust, as if it was their fault he had to put them away. 

“I’ll do it right after I wash my hands,”  Alex thought, leaving the vegetables there and continuing on to the restroom. 

Upon entry, the first thing Alex did was head to the dirtied, water-stained mirror on the wall, looking at himself. He was a mess. His hair was no longer in a bun, but a ponytail with the elastic slowly falling out, he had a thin layer of sweat of his face that he hadn’t wiped off yet making him look filthy, and finally, his shirt was slightly ripped in the corner probably from the garbage dumpster he thought. Turning on the grimy faucet, he splashed a bit of water on his face, washing away the dirt and sweat. Fixing his hair back into a bun, he exhaled, looking at himself with pity. He wished he had the time to actually take of himself, but it was simply impossible. 

As soon as Alex finished washing up, he rushed back to where the vegetable crates had been left hoping his boss hadn’t noticed him leave. Unfortunately, life was not so lenient on him.

“Why haven’t you put the crates away yet Hamilton?” 

To his dismay, Alexander’s boss was standing right behind him, watching him the entire time. Tapping his clipboard impatiently, the crimson-faced manager stared at Alex waiting expectantly for an answer on why he hadn’t done his job yet.

“Well?” He angrily asked, slamming the vegetable crate out of Alexander’s hands, ripping a bit of the flesh off his left hand, quickly turning red with fresh blood. Alex’s boss kept tapping, and the sound seemed to rattle in his brain, making it harder and harder for him to stay calm in front of his boss. 

“Are you going to answer me or just sit there stupidly?” 

_Tap tap tap._

“Helloooo? Can you even hear me you pathetic good for nothing child?” 

_Tap tap tap._

“Jesus, I knew you were just like that filthy cousin of yours. And I bet you’re parents were no better. That’s why your father left, because you were too much for him to han-“

_Tap tap-_

“Get bent.” 

The boss was cut off, and he glared at Alex furiously, looking as if he was going to explode.

“What the hell did you say to me?”

“I said,” Alexander started, bringing his head up to stare directly in the managers eyes.

“Get bent you ignorant, selfish, dim witted, fucking bitch.” 

There was a moment of shocked silence as Alex’s boss gaped, completely stunned but Alex didn’t care. He wasn’t finished.

“Don’t you  ever  talk about my family like that again or so help me god, I will fucking destroy you. You will lose everything and you’ll be thrown out on the streets and have to live off of alley rats and garbage food from dumpsters. I’ll tell everybody about how shitty you are to your employees here and what you  really  do when you stay at work late to “finish paperwork”. You’re not fooling anybody asshole. ”

Somehow, Alex kept going, without taking a break in between words.

”And another thing Mr. “High and Mighty”, don’t act like we don’t know that you lock yourself in your office just look at playboy magazines like a horny high school teenager because your wife can’t stand to look at you anymore after you gained fifty pounds in a month. You have another thing coming if you thing your gonna come in here and insult _my_ family and _my_ friends cause believe me man, I will come for your entire life and ruin you.”

Alexander paused, taking a slow breath in from all that he’d just said.

“So, if I ever hear from you again, you’re finished.”

With that, Alexander turned away from his former boss and left the market, too angry to comprehend about what had just happened yet. Storming home, Alex thought about what he’d just done and at first he felt horrible. 

_“I shouldn’t have done that, what if something goes wrong with my ticket or I miss my ship or they don’t let me on? Now I don’t have anywhere to work and I’ll be screwed,”_

As the emotionally unstable man neared the apartment building where he lived, he bit his nails, worrying about what to do from now on.

_“You know what? I hated that job and the manager was a dick anyway, he deserved every word of what I said.”_

Alex smiled to himself, proud of the fact that he’d finally stood up to somebody in his life and didn’t let them push him around. Reaching the front door of the hallway, he pushed open the doors forcefully, forgetting completely about the Danger Room right next to him.

_“I mean, nothing should go wrong, I have my ticket and I’m pretty much completely packed. I shouldn’t-“_

“Hey Alex,” A voice called from behind him, making his freeze instantly, realizing what he’d done. He slowly turned, facing the smaller woman behind him. 

“Alyssa...”

The woman latched onto Alex, grabbing his arm and swinging around.

“I haven’t seen you lately. Have you been avoiding me?”

Unable to tell her the truth, Alex responded quietly with a tinge of guilt in his words. He’d never confirm it, but Alex did actually like having Alyssa around. She was surprisingly sweet once you got to know her and Alex considered her a good friend. The real reason he was avoiding her was because he hasn’t told Alyssa that he was leaving yet, and felt terrible for leaving her.

“No-“

“Don’t lie to me Alex, you’re terrible at it,”

Sighing, Alexander let go of Alyssa and faced her to look her in the eye.

“Actually, there is something I’ve been meaning to tell you but just didn’t know how,”

The blonde woman stared back at Alex with her wide hazel eyes and slightly grinned.

“You’re leaving. I know, I have known for a while,”

Alex gazed back at her confused, he had tried as hard as possible to keep her from knowing, so how had she found out?

“How did you know?”

“Well for starters, you are the worlds worst keeper of secrets. You constantly look constipated when you do have one and let me say, it is hilarious,”

She laughed, making Alex turn lightly pink in embarrassment.

“And secondly, you talk in your sleep. That’s how I find out most of what you’re not telling me. And you’ve been talking about this boat ticket for the past two weeks. I was able to piece together words and figure it out.” 

Alyssa looked away, a saddened expression on her pale face. Alex instantly felt ten times worse for not telling her before, and grabbed her arm bringing her in for a hug.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, I was afraid you’d be mad at me.”

Pressing her head against his chest, Alyssa wrapped her arms around him sobbing softly. 

“I could never be mad at you, you’re my best friend. I just wish you had told me sooner.”

Alex pulled away slightly, wiping the tears off of Alyssa’s face. Her smeared mascara got on his fingers, but he didn’t care.

“But there is something I do need to tell you before you go. People have been talking about a mysterious man in Germany attempting to continue what Hitler did all those years ago. They’re saying there may be another war.” 

Alyssas worry was prominent on her red, puffy face staring seriously at Alex, making him a bit nervous.

“You really think that’ll happen again?”

“I would hope not. It’ll be devastating for a lotta people. All I’m asking of you is to be careful, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Alyssa noticed the small cut in Alex’s arm from when his ex-boss slammed down the crate, and grabbed his arm to look at it.   


“What happened there?”

”Oh just a little accident at work. By the way, I am now un-employed so that’s exciting.”

  
Stepping back, Alyssa paused, remembering something from before.

“Hold on.”

Rushing quickly down the hall back to where she lived, Alex stood in confusion waiting for her. A few moments later, she emerged once again, heading back to Alex out of breath. In one of her hands she held a small square box, that was a bit scratched and such and in the other, a bit of bandage to use in Alex’s wound.

“I...got this for you...a while ago for your birthday... but I think it’s a better idea to give it to you now.” Alyssa panted, holding out the box for Alex to take. She began wrapping the gauze around his hand as he admired the box.

Opening the black cardboard box, Alex’s eyes widened to see a small chain necklace, with a small feather attached to the end of it.

“Yeah I got it custom made cause it means freedom or some shit and you’ll finally be free in America but if you don’t like it it’s ok-“

“I love it.” Alexander cut her off, embracing her once again, this time with tears in his eyes. Alyssa smiled widely, grabbing the necklace to put it around his neck. Examining the feather more closely, he saw the two names  Alex  and  Alyssa  engraved on opposite sides of the feather, making him cry even more.

Sniffing and rubbing his nose, Alex let out a breath, checking the time. 

“It’s already 5:30!?” He exclaimed, taking off to his own apartment, Alyssa following closely behind. 

“What about it?”

“The ship leaves at 6:00 Alyssa!” 

Frantically throwing his clothes and such into a dirty suitcase that already had most of his stuff in it, Alex rushed around grabbing things while Alyssa watched from the door in boredom.

“I don’t see the big problem, you have thirty minutes to get to the docks, which are only five minutes away.” 

“So??”

Giggling to herself, Alyssa went to sit on Alex’s undone bed finding amusement at his rush. 

“So, you have plenty of time. Slow down man, no need to freak out.”

Tossing her shoulder length hair over a shoulder, Alyssa dismisses the situation, instead deciding to inspect her chipped red nail polish, picking at it. Meanwhile, Alex hadn’t listened to a word Alyssa said and was still throwing things all over trying to pack his suitcase. 

***

“Are you done panicking now?” 

Alyssa sat up from the small twin bed she had been laying on for the past ten minutes waiting for Alex to finish his distressed packing. He sat down with a huff on the floor in front of a now fully packed suitcase that he’d completed in record time.

“Yes I’m done. I have to get to the docks,”

“You know it’s only 5:40 right? You have a whole 20 minutes man, we have time,”

Alyssa stood from the bed and grabbed Alex’s arm, pulling him up to stand despite his whining. Grabbing the suitcase, Alyssa headed towards the door with it and left it in front without telling Alex anything

“What are you doing?” Alex asked suspiciously trailing behind her as she walked down the hall.

“Come on silly, were gonna go get ice cream!”

Hamilton rolled his eyes with a smile but chose not to argue, knowing he wouldn’t get his way. Dragging his suitcase behind her, Alyssa continued on to the closest ice cream shop, which was thankfully right next to the docks where Alex was to board later on. Taking the suitcase from the tired woman, Alex looked around anxiously, worried that he’d miss his ship. 

“What are you gonna get?” Alyssa asked her friend, noticing how tense he was.

“I don’t know pick for me.”

“Ok.” 

After paying the man selling ice cream accordingly, Alyssa took a seat next to Alex at a small table outside the parlor, handing him his ice cream, mint chocolate chip flavoured. Taking a bite of her own strawberry sundae, she watched as Alexander kept looking around for his ship uncomfortably. She frowned, knowing how stressful this was for him.

“Hey,” Alyssa got his attention, grasping his arm lightly to signify that she was there for him.

“Alex, I know this is scary for you, and I know you are afraid of what will happen, but I know that you will make it. You’ve been through hell and back but you keep going, and you will make it. I am positive of it. And if you ever need me, I’m right here in Puerto Rico for you. Just give me a call.”

Giving Alex a warm smile, Alyssa swiftly grabbed a pen off the parlors countertop and a napkin they had sitting on the table, writing her number on it for him. Giving the napkin to Alex, she stood, throwing away their finished cups of ice cream. Picking up the suitcase once again, Alyssa reaches out to grab Alex’s arm, pulling him up from his chair.

“Come on, its time to go,”

The two young adults stood, going the small distance to where Alex’s ship had docked, in front of the steps leading up. People had already began boarding, all scrambling around, dragging large suitcases and unamused family members behind them desperate to get on before everyone else. Alex started up at the giant ship ahead of him, small knots twisting in his stomach with anxiety. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for this. What’ll he do once he gets to New York? He doesn’t have a place to stay or anywhere to go, he hadn’t really thought that far ahead.

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” Alex hesitated, stepping back from the ships boarding path slightly. 

“No, you’ve been waiting for this your whole life, you are  not  backing out.”

Alyssa nudged him towards the entrance squeezing his shoulder in support. 

“I’m not sure this is a good idea...”

“Actually, it’s one of the best ideas you’ve ever had to be honest, you get a fresh start in America, something you can never get here. You can do this Alexander, believe in yourself. You can do this.”

Reassuringly rubbing his back, Alyssa stepped back from Alex, gesturing towards the path inside the ship. Hamilton felt himself tear up again, looking back at the woman he knew as his only family left. Alyssa sniffed, salty tears already down her face as she took another step back from Alex, no longer touching him.

“Go.”

Alex nodded at her, taking her in his arms one last time before hearing the last call bell for passengers. Waving at Alyssa as he rushed up the stairs, his suitcase flailing about behind him, Alex boarded the ship just before the doors closed, with a breath of relief. Looking out of the small round window in the clean, empty hallway he was in, he saw Alyssa, who was still standing in the same place as he’d left her. Fingering the metal feather necklace she’d given him earlier, Alex gazed out the thick window at Alyssa sadly smiling. He waved out of the window as well, despite knowing she couldn’t see him and that it was unrealistic.

_ “Goodbye Alyssa.” _

***

_ Ding! ding! ding!  _

Alexander groaned softly, sitting up from the couch he’d been previously sleeping on. Groggily yawning, he stretched out, falling back on the couch’s soft plush in exhaustion. Checking the time, he saw that it was the next day at nearly five am, and that the sun was just barely rising over the horizon, light flooding in over the land creating swirls of pink and magenta. He felt a small bit of tension in his neck from how awkwardly he’d slept but decided to ignore it and push through the pain. Grabbing the suitcase laying next to him, he used it to stand up, leaning on it slightly as he put in his old and torn up red converse he’d owned for years now. 

The air was cool and crisp, making shivers shoot up Alex’s spine and clutch his arms a bit closer together as he blew hot air into his numb hands. He wasn’t sure what to do, with so many new things and people around him, he felt a bit overwhelmed. The rows of flashing buildings, performers dancing on the streets, and loud cars rumbling down the concrete streets was unfamiliar to him, and he didn’t like it much. Where should he go? What should he do? 

_ “I really didn’t think this through...” _

Not sure exactly where he was going, Alex began wandering the streets of Canandaigua, New York, coming to the conclusion that perhaps he’d find a place to stay as he walked. 

Tugging his heavy suitcase behind him, Alex drifted off into his own thoughts, peacefully watching the sunrise over the large brick buildings in front of him.

The serenity didn’t last very long however, as Alex smacked right into a young woman, the girl dropping to the floor dropping her bag full of books next to her.

“Oh man, I am so sorry miss,” Alex frantically dropped to the floor helping her pick up her books and put them back in the cloth bag, helping her up afterwards. Handing the flustered woman her bag back, Alex stepped back, apologizing continuously at the same time.

“Oh it’s quite all right sir,” the woman spoke in a soft tone, her voice sounding as smooth as butter on a warm, sunny day.

“What are doing out so early all alone in those filthy clothes?” 

“Oh-um, I just got here from the Caribbean,” Alex stuttered nervously, a bit afraid that she may not like him after finding that out. He heard that the people here were not so kind to immigrants.

“Really?” Her face made Alex tense up with worry, afraid she may yell or throw something at him. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for a slap or some sort of aggressive reaction from the woman, but none followed. Instead, Alex felt a gentle, warm hand wrap around his arm and he opened his eyes to see the woman giving him a friendly smile. There was something about the woman that was just so comforting, like the sound of rain pattering on the windowsill late at night or the smell of lavender in a meadow. 

“You poor thing, with nowhere to go. You should come back home with me and I’ll give you a clean change of clothes and a nice, hot meal. You can stay with my family and I.”

Before Alex could even say anything, the woman began leading him down the street to a large, white house with a beautiful assortment of flowers in the front as a display. Alex started at the expensive house in front of him in utter shock. There was no way this was real.

“What are you waiting for? Come inside!”

“Th-thank you!”

  
But before Alex walked up the cobblestone front steps to join the woman, he stopped curious to know something.

“What’s your name miss?”

The woman went to hold him by the arm again, bringing him up into the household.

_ “Eliza. Eliza Schuyler.” _


	4. Chapter Three

_** March 31, 1952 ** _

“No.  _No_ ,”  Angelica whispered, dropping the newspaper in shock, letting it drift to the floor, her body dropping down onto the wooden stool beside her. Pressing her face into her hands, Angelica sat silent, too in disbelief to say a word. Peggy covered her mouth, muffling silent sobs, holding onto John strongly, who was busy attempting to comfort the crying woman clinging to his side. The entire room was in denial of the situation, unable to say anything for a few minutes. The house was darker today, the usual energy filling it no where to be seen. It had been a fairly gloomy day already, as if the clouds were aware of the news too and set the mood for them. There was no sun peeking out behind them either, it was almost like the light from the world had disappeared, leaving only an unsettling negativity tainting the air instead.

“There’s no way it’s true. It can’t be,” Hercules said grabbing the newspaper from where it lay on the floor to see for himself. A fews seconds passed as he read to himself, his eyes widening as he handed the paper to Lafayette.

“Oh non, c'est très mauvais. Very bad,” Laf spoke to no one in particular, scanning the paper reading the headline. The French man closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths and rubbing his face, attempting to calm himself down before he freaked out just as much as the others. There wasn’t a single person in the room alright with the situation at hand, and the only two staying even remotely calm were Eliza and Lafayette. After passing the newspaper around three room for everyone to see, it ended up back in Angelicas arms, who was still sitting, head down and unmoving. Nobody spoke, there was just too much going through their heads at the moment to create words out loud.

“We are at war...” Alex whispered from the corner, his head down and fidgeting with his hands.

“Really? I had no idea dipshit.” John shot back angrily, making Peggy pause for a second to smack him on the arm in annoyance. The tension grew a bit in the room from the sudden hostility and it seemed to slowly make its way into every person there.

“Stop being rude,” The yellow dressed woman hissed under her breath to him, giving him a stern look despite her tears. 

“I’m sorry, but it’s not my fault he says stupid crap all the time!” 

“Oh really? I’m the one saying stupid crap all the time? Have you  _ heard  _ yourself speak before? It’s like fucking nails on a chalkboard. Makes me want to cut my ears off every time you open your mouth.”

“Excuse me-“

“Guys! Stop it!” Peggy yelled at the two immature men arguing, tears continuing to fall from her eyes. John quickly stopped, hugging the short woman in apologies while glaring at Alex from over his shoulder. Alex scoffed, turning away from them and focusing on the discussion the older group was having by the kitchen. Needless to say, it wasn’t going too well either.

“This is your fault Angelica! You made me think we were safe and now here we are, in a war with fucking Germany yet again!” Thomas hissed at Angie, who flipped her attention to him faster than ever before, looking at him in a scarily intense astonishment.

“I just know you don’t think this shit is  _ my  _ fault Jefferson. It’s not my fault I actually had a little faith in humanity and trusted those idiots not to made the same goddamn mistake twice!”

While Angelica and Thomas continued blaming each other for countless things, Burr was with Hercules and Lafayette having their own discussion. At the time, they seemed to be the calmest group of all of them, but that statement quickly stopped applying to the situation when Burr began pointing the blame on Hercules.

“What the hell do you mean you’re mad at us? It’s not our fault we didn’t think those dumbasses would actually be able to do this again. You’re German. Why don’t you ask yourself why your country is so stupid?”

Hercules bickered with Burr, who had supposedly been angry at Lafayette and Mulligan for thinking the situation at hand was unimportant in the past and disregarding it altogether. One thing they all knew about Burr was that he was an over reactor. So when the rumor about a war first started drifting around, he freaked out. Most of the time it was over small, meaningless things but it seemed this time he was right for thinking the worst. The three stood facing each other by the sliding door leading out to the garden outside the Schuyler residence angrily, all of them engaged in an unreasonable fight over who to put the blame on.

“First of all, I’m Italian not German. There’s a damn difference. Second of all, I’m just saying, if you had taken the news more serious in the first place maybe we would be more prepared right now instead of being totally caught off guard by it and not having any supplies or anything.” Burr said, his tone so unbelievably passive aggressive, it was hard to believe someone could be so pissed off yet calm at the same time. Lafayette stood with the two as well, clearly annoyed but not yelling the other two.

“It is not our fault we didn’t think Germany could be so easily persuaded into starting another war. Salope stupide.” Laf added to the conversation, too angry to try and pronounce things correctly in his sentences.

“What did you just call me?” Aaron snarled lowly, facing Lafayette and completely forgetting about Mulligan, who was smirking at what Laf had said. The group picked up a bit of French from Lafayette along the way, mostly curse words so both of them understood the French man, and what he’d just called Burr. Lafayette didn’t back down, instead facing Aaron fully and unwilling to let it go.

“I called you a stupid bitch. What are you to do about it?” 

Eliza examined the room silently from her corner near the box tv in uncertainty. Fiddling with the hem of her light turquoise skirt, she changed her attention to the different groups fighting over again, increasingly getting more and more uncomfortable. Angelica and Thomas were still quarreling over who’s fault the whole thing was, John and Alex we’re still at each other throats, now about who was making Peggy cry while Peggy tried desperately to stop them (with no success), and finally, Aaron, Lafayette, and Hercules were an inch away from fist fighting each other right then and there because of the insults being thrown at each other. For a minute Eliza stood, not uttering a word and simply taking in the sight in agony of her family being so incredibly furious at themselves for no real reason. The quiet woman dressed in blue quickly snapped out of it however when Hercules, Lafayette, and Burr began pushing the others on the verge of pounding each other in by the glass door, and she decided right then and there to put an end to this whole situation.

“Everybody stop!!” Eliza shrieked, causing the whole room to fall silent faster than ever before. The groups all paused and turned to face her, shocked by the sudden yell from the often shy woman. 

“Everyone sit down. Now.”

The adults took a moment to register what had happened before scrambling to follow the veryclearly serious young woman before them. Everyone knew that once Eliza started yelling, they had royally screwed up. After the family took a seat wherever they could find one, Angelica, Thomas, and Burr at the island, and the rest of them on the gray couches in the living room, split in half. Sighing slightly, Eliza rubbed her temples, feeling a small headache coming on. She analyzed the room, noticing the guilty expressions on everybody’s faces and relaxed her face a small amount from the frown it was set in, but not completely.

“Why are we all fighting?” Eliza started speaking to the group, standing in front of the tv so that she was front and center to them, as if she were presenting to a class.

“You are all being simply unreasonable. This is not anybody’s fault and we are all aware of it. I know this news is hard for all of us to hear, but we should not be arguing with each other.” 

The group muttered small apologies, all of them clearly showing regret for what they’d done before. They seemed like schoolchildren being told off for talking too much during a lesson, and Eliza was the teacher. 

“None of you are to blame for this catastrophe, and I expect you not to go around pointing at each other for this either. We are all in this together and we will not be able to get through this alone. So please, stop this nonsense and start working together. We are stronger together rather than by ourselves, and you all know it. I expect more from you all,” 

The group was staying silent, thinking about what Eliza had just told them and instantly feeling even worse than before. Eliza was always the person to break up the fights within the family, and none of them knew what they’d do without her. She was quite honestly the glue keeping them all together. Without her, the group would fall apart in two seconds, and they’d end up killing each other before the end of the day. The air had a scent of tension in the still living room, everyone feeling bad for what they’d done yet not wanting speak first. This was no doubt one of the most stubborn families out there. Peggy shifted uncomfortably, sitting up a bit from her position next to John.

“We’re sorry Eliza,” Peggy finally spoke up, sick of the cold silence the group stayed in. Once Peggy began, the others let go of their vow of silence and muttered their own apologies as well. Eliza fully relieved her face from the frown it had been in after the round of ‘sorrys’ that emitted from the group, letting the annoyance inside her die away leaving just a small knot of anxiety for what was to come. The middle Schuyler sister left her position at the front of the room and sat down beside Alex on the left couch and slumped back, deep in thought. It was surprisingly quiet for the house – usually there was never a silent moment in the place – as everybody repeated Elizas words to themselves. 

“She’s right.” Hercules started speaking shortly after Eliza, sitting up straight on the couch to face every one.

“I mean, we shouldn’t be fighting. This affects all of us an’ whatever we did ‘fore now ain’t matter no more. We should be helpin’ each other, not hurtin’ each other. We gotta stick together to fight against these guys.” 

The group nodded in agreement, feeling slightly better by the situation from the motivational words. 

“I think you’re all forgetting something.” Thomas took the attention from Hercules, getting up to face the entire room as if he were giving a lecture. For a minute he waited expectantly for someone to realize what he was talking about before smacking his face in defeat.

“We are all old enough to be drafted. That means any of us could be getting called within the next few days.”

A simultaneous gasp emitted from everyone, realizing how much more serious the war was now that it was possible they’d have to fight in it. The group erupted into conversation yet again, thankfully not as much fighting as being worried for each other this time around. One of the most recent laws passed was that both women and men alike would be drafted into the army if needed. What perfect timing. 

“Oh dear...” Eliza said to herself blocking out the chaos around her and wrapping herself in her own thoughts. The circumstances were certainly not in their favor considering they were all young and healthy. They were easily good choices to choose people to draft and that fact was unsettling for Eliza. She knew it would only be a matter of time before one or more of them were sent away to fight. Eliza was still in her thoughts, too much going through her mind to pay any attention to what the rest of the adults were talking about at the time. The idea of any of her family being forced go fight to their potential deaths was affecting her badly, yet she remained stone faced on the outside. If there was anything Eliza could do better than anyone else, it was stay calm.

“Alright alright everybody slow down,” Burr called the attention of the group, ceasing their conversation for a bit.

“The first thing we need to do is prepare. I mean, if an attack really does happen here in New York we’ll want to have food and first aid kits and all those important things. I say we go the market before anything else and stock up.” 

“Actually that’s a good idea man,” John answered, standing from the couch and leaving to be beside Aaron.

“We should all go to the store and get supplies so we’re prepared whatever comes our way. That sound good to everyone?” 

All the others sounded in agreement except Eliza, who was seemingly miles away from the conversation at the end of the couch looking off into the distance didn’t answer, obviously not paying attention.

“That good with you Eliza?” 

Pulling Eliza out of her thoughts, she looked at the man expectantly waiting for an answer answering with a small  mhmm  to show her agreement as well. But it was fairly clear to John she didn’t actually know what they had said. Letting it go, John led the group down the the end of the hall, his curly hair bouncing slightly up and down with him. Peggy followed closely by his side with Burr, behind her was Alex, Laf, and Hercules, then at the back was Angelica along with Thomas and Eliza. 

“Let’s go get some supplies, shall we?” 

Pulling back from the large group, Angelica grabbed Eliza from the group pulling her back a bit to talk to her.

“Hey, you ok?” Angie worriedly asked her sister, noticing how much more quiet she had been after her speech to the family. Eliza was still very far away, not at all processing yet what Angelica had said to her.

“What? Oh, yeah I’m fine,” 

But there was something nagging at Eliza Schuyler from the back of her brain that wouldn’t go away. Were they really going to be okay? Or would this war change everyone’s lives for the worse?

_ I guess there was only one way to find out.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a bit shorter than I wanted it to be but I haven’t posted in a sec and I really needed to. So sorry this is late we just started school again and I’ve been drowning in schoolwork since it started haha I hope to have the next chapter out in a week but no promises:)


	5. Chapter Four

“You’re staring again Eliza,” Peggy pushed the distracted woman’s resting arm slightly, bringing her attention back to real life. Eliza gave a small flinch, jumping out of her seat a bit from the abrupt trip back to reality. Shifting in her garden chair awkwardly from being caught, she laughed nervously, her tan face becoming a tinge of pink with embarrassment. Across the Schuyler’s garden was Alexander, who was busy trying to learn how to plant flowers with a very distressed Angelica, about to give up on him. Peggy sighed, looking back and forth from Eliza to Alex, seeing her quite obviously crushing sister continue to look at the young man as he struggled with the flowers. Angelica smacked him slightly over the head every time he put the flowers in the wrong place, at her wits end.

“Sorry...” Eliza sheepishly apologized to Peggy for drifting off during their conversation. 

“Eliza, you’ve only known him for a month, are you seriously already getting a crush on him?”

“What? No.” 

Peggy couldn’t help but giggle a bit to herself at that answer, knowing the older sister was lying to her but letting go of the topic, changing it to a more serious tone.

“You know people have been saying that there’s another group of people getting drafted within the next week. They’re gonna send out letters all throughout this week.”

“Really? I do hope it’s none of us, but there’s too many of us to stay safe for much longer.” Eliza toyed with the hem of her skirt, which was a long flowing royal blue today. One of Elizas small habits was messing with her clothing whenever she was nervous or scared. She did it a lot, so nobody really noticed anymore still, as her sister if was Peggy’s job to know when Eliza was afraid, and even if she was younger, she could still comfort her sibling. Before Peggy could answer however, Angelica and Alex approached the two, both sweaty and exhausted from planting flowers the entire morning. Alex gave a lopsided grin to Eliza, making her ears and cheeks rosier than even before, though her face was more or less scarlet now, not pink. 

“Gross. You two need to take showers!” Peggy exclaimed, pushing herself away from the tired and exceptionally hot adults -despite the colder weather- , which both gave her an unamused look from her comment. 

“Yeah, you’re right.” Alex answered the disgusted woman, pushing a few strands of hair that had fallen out of his messy bun out of his face, wiping the beads of sweat off his forehead.

“I’ll do that right now.”

Both the other Schuyler sisters watched Eliza as her eyes followed Alex once again, simultaneously groaning. Eliza was known to fall fast and hard for people, she was just one of those people. It seemed her newest target was Alexander Hamilton. Angelica and Peggy has no problems with the man, but he was not the best choice Eliza could have picked in their opinion. In their defense, they had only met the man a month ago, so you can see why they’d be a little skeptical on it.

“Well, I’m going inside to shower as well. Don’t stay out here too long you two,” Angelica said to the women, following Alex inside to do the same. However, Eliza still wasn’t paying attention for she had turned back to face the garden, examining all the new flowers Angie and Alex had just planted. For a few minutes Peggy sat with her, a small bit concerned for her sister but not enough to say anything yet. Everyone had noticed how much quieter Eliza had been after the war was announced, but they could understand why. It was shocking for everyone. There had already been attacks on the east coast reported, and it was a matter time before their own city was put under siege by the Nazis. 

Peggy stood, getting ready to go back inside to the others, looking at Eliza first.

“I’m going to go back inside, will you stay out here?” 

The blue woman shook her head slightly smiling to her sister. She didn’t exactly want to go back to the suffocating house just yet. 

“Alright then. Come in before dark.” 

With that, Peggy left her sister to sit alone in the garden, yet again lost in her own thoughts. This seemed to happen often lately.

Eliza watched the different flowers wave lightly in the breeze, studying the soft petals and thin stems supporting them. The flowers always seemed to bring her a sense of comfort, even in the hardest of times. How carefree and calm the plants flowed in the wind living a life of peace fascinated Eliza. The petals, so small and delicate but important to the plant was exceptionally interesting to her. Flower petals could survive so much, while still being breathlessly beautiful and fragile made Eliza think about how many people out there were the same way.

There were many more common characteristics between flowers and humans than people realized. Both are each individually gorgeous in their own ways, and both are very dangerous in their own ways. Like the thorns on a rose, beautiful things could hurt. There are people out there that are prickly like the thorns, but it is hidden underneath the graceful petals. And you don’t notice the dangerous points until you’ve drawn blood from them painfully. This is what some people may be, but there are also people who don’t prick you, and are simply heavenly, like angels in the white clouds. Unfortunately, Eliza thinks, that these people are very hard to come by nowadays, and if found, they must be cherished and kept close to your heart so they do not drift too far away and return to the sky. 

Eliza has a talent for finding these hidden flowers, which is why when she bumped into Alexander on the street, she almost instantly opened her home to him despite knowing close to nothing about him. Whether the others know it or not, Eliza was aware of how much potential Alex held in himself, and something told her this particular man did not have hidden thorns.

Standing from the position she had been watching the flowers in, Eliza brushed a bit of soil off her blue skirt, turning to go back indoors. Walking back through the glass backyard door, she entered the kitchen to see John Laurens and Peggy at the couch both playing a game of chess. From the looks of it, Peggy was winning as well.

“Oh come on! How did I not see that coming?” John exclaimed, banging the table in frustration as Peggy took his king and yelled ‘Checkmate!’ yet again.

“You really suck at this game John,” 

The winner of the match laughed, covering her face, giggling.

“This is against my disability, I’m colourblind. It’s not fair.”

“Oh  _please_ . You and I both know you see black and white just fine you liar. You’re just a sore loser.”

John pouted, folding his arms and slumping back on the cushions immaturely, puffing his cheeks out a bit to look angry, but only succeeded in making himself look more like a child. 

John was colourblind. It was something he wasn’t afraid to joke about with family and close friends, but he almost never told new people about it in fear of them judging his ability to do certain tasks. It wasn’t a very touchy subject for him, he’s been used to it his whole life, but that didn’t stop words from hurting. Sometimes it made Eliza feel bad that John couldn’t see colour like the rest of them could. She imagines the world is very boring, and dead, and he didn’t appreciate flowers as much as the others. It can be difficult to care about something you can’t even see she guessed. Yes, it was a bit sad that John was unable to see colour, but he’s used to it. It’s nothing new to him. 

“Alright you two, are Angie and Alex still showering?” 

They both nodded, already lost in their next match, both determined to win. Smiling a bit to herself, Eliza looked to their right at the large clock hanging on the wall to check what time is was. The two hands read 8:56pm making Eliza realize that it was later than she’d realized. She had to be at the orphanage early tomorrow, and later in the day she’d be helping Angelica sort some bouquet orders that had come in. It would be best if she began getting ready for bed soon. 

Looking back to Peggy and John, she laughed a bit to herself at how competitive they were with each other. Peggy had won once again, making John somehow even more annoyed than before, his face written in pure desperation at trying to win just one game. Sadly, even Eliza knew that he wouldn’t be winning any games today. Heading upstairs to get dressed for bed, Eliza bumped into Alex, who was going the opposite way back downstairs.

“How was your shower?” Eliza asked, automatically feeling the small butterflies in her stomach upon eye contact.

“Oh just great. Angelica was trying to kill me out there I swear.” Alex laughed with her, his nose scrunching up a little bit. His nose scrunch was one of the first things the older woman had noticed about him. How his nose scrunched up when he was laughing, how his eyes closed slightly in amusement, and how she thought it was one of the most adorable things she had ever seen. 

“Well, I’m gonna head to sleep, I have an early day tomorrow.” 

As much as Eliza wanted the conversation to continue, the responsible side of her brain knew that she had to get to sleep and soon. 

“I’m gonna go raid the fridge, don’t tell anyone,” Alex put a finger to his lips with a smirk, making a  _shhh_ sound through his teeth. Eliza mimicked him with a small tiny smile on her face as well, muffling a few giggles at his joking. With a wink, Alex continued down the stairs leaving Eliza to wonder how she’d foundsuch an amazingly breathtaking man.

—————————————————————

Something was off. The air outside was sour and it was a gloomy, clouded day. Eliza couldn’t help but feel her spirits sink slowly with the leaves fluttering to the floor from the growing trees struggling to stay up against the pushing wind. Everyone had stayed home today in the Schuyler’s household, deciding the weather outside was a bit too harsh for them to go out. Bad-tempered and bored adults strayed along the house, each of them unable to find anything interesting to do. The sun would be going down soon enough, leaving them with not even a bit of light to enjoy on this lazy and exceptionally monotonous day. 

Eliza was currently laid on the couch next to Thomas, who was staring at the television, with some kind of Spanish soap opera on. On her other side was Lafayette, passed out and leaning against her shoulder. She didn’t mind of course, because she was pre-occupied with a book that she’d borrowed from Peggy. Across from them was John and Peggy, who were busy working on a few paper reports they had due at the hospital soon. On the couch with the nurses was Alex, who had been watching the television as well, except he could actually understand what was happening unlike Thomas. Sitting at the island was Aaron Burr, who had been working on a word search in the daily news for the last twenty minutes. Hercules Mulligan wasn’t present, and was instead out on the front porch secretly smoking a cigarette out of stress. 

Angelica had decided to take a nap earlier, so the living room was without her presence at the moment. It was quiet, and the whole group was feeling a bit claustrophobic from being inside all day. They didn’t often have to stay inside together for hours at a time so naturally, they were all a bit annoyed with each other. 

“When do you think the weather will die down?” A very clearly exhausted looking John asked to nobody in particular and Eliza looked up from her book to see John slumped forwards in front of his papers still writing words down on the documents.

“The news said earlier it may go on for another couple days...”

She said which emitted a groan from multiple people, not just John. 

“What are we supposed to do? Just sit around all day doing nothing?”

Eliza simply shrugged, she was equally as tired as the others and didn’t have an answer for them. It was then that Hercules decided to join the group once again, pretending as if he hadn’t reverted back to his old smoking habit. Dropping himself down at the counter with Aaron, he let out a  _whew_ sound and turned to face the group.

“It’s pretty bad out there, I don’t think it’s gonna get any better anytime soon,” 

Burr crinkled his nose, looking up from his newspaper in disgust. 

“Ew, Hercules have you been smoking again?” He asked the man, who’s smile to them dropped fairly quickly. He should’ve known better than to sit next to Aaron Burr, the worlds most overreactive man.

“Nah dude, I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” 

He lied, hoping it would convince the already concerned adult next to him. Of course, Burr automatically knew he was faking and found the pack of cigarettes in his pocket taking them by two fingers and raising them up for everyone to see. Hercules’ face turned a light pink in embarrassment as he prepared for Aaron’s long winding rant on how cigarettes would kill him and that he was screwing up his body. 

Just as predicted, Burr opened his mouth and began angrily berating Mulligan with his words.

“Do you know what these things do to you? They’re literal sticks of cancer you’re going to get yourself killed!”

Hercules knew better than to interrupt him and instead just let the shorter man keep going as he was not slowing down anytime soon.

“...and another thing, studies have shown that more and more people die from cigarettes every year! Would you like to be a part of those studies as one of the people who died from these things? Cause from what you’ve been doing, you’re already on your way there.”

Standing from his chair, Burr kept talking as he headed to the trash can, holding only the edge of the carton as if he would get an illness just from touching the package. He dropped the cigarettes in, and returned to his seat all the while he was still raving about them, not stopping for even a moment.

“...so I can’t understand why you would continue smoking those cancerous nuisances after all the reasons I gave you right now. You’d have to be an idiot to keep using them. Are you an idiot?” 

Quietly muttering a _“_ _no”_ ,  Hercules wasn’t making eye contact with Burr and was instead looking down at the floor in shame. The others in the living room simply watched on intently as Burr paced around the kitchen, waving his hands around in the air all over the place as if he were giving a speech. 

“Good. Now are we going to smoke anymore cigarettes?”

“No.”

“And will you keep lying to us about smoking said cigarettes?”

“No.”

“I’m glad you understand. Now, if I ever catch you smoking cigarettes again. I will not hesitate to lock you out today the house for a week.”

Nodding silently, Hercules mentally sighed in relief that Burr was finished with his yelling and was back to his puzzle instead of listing off the countless articles he’s read that said cigarettes were bad for you.

“Well that was the most entertainment we’ll have for the next few days,”

Thomas said, earning an unamused expression from Aaron. The others slumped back into their original positions, just as put out as before Burr had begun ranting. If they were to be honest, Jefferson was correct. That was most likely going to be the most interesting thing to happen to them for the rest of the week. 

_Click._

“Shit. The power just went out.“

Thomas sighed loudly, picking himself up from the couch and going to the tv turning the dials and hitting the side in low hopes it would turn on again. All the other lights in the house followed close behind, each bringing the place closer and closer to pitch black. Alex clung to Peggy a small bit in fear of the loud cracks of thunder coming from outside as Thomas left to find candles hidden in one of the many drawers in the kitchen to light. Eliza was surprised for Lafayette hadn’t woken up the entire time and was still sleeping soundly in the woman’s lap now, preventing her from getting up and helping. Thomas fumbled around in the dark looking for the candles while Burr searched for the matches, finding them fairly quickly. Shortly after, Jefferson pulled out a package of candles, grabbing out the metal stands for them as well and setting them up on the island to light. A dull source of light emitted from the candles, making the room as well as the others in it barely visible enough to see without bumping into things. The storm continued raging outside, making the house creak and groan from the wind hitting it ruthlessly the whole time. Getting up to take Jefferson’s old spot on the couch, Alexander sat down close to Eliza for comfort, creating a warm feeling in the young woman’s stomach in happiness. He snuggled up to her a bit as he sighed, closing his eyes in attempts at blocking out the loud bangs coming from the thunder and debris hitting the house harshly.

“Phone lines are down too,” Aaron called from the kitchen, putting the phone back on its hook with a frustrated look on his face. 

“Let me try the tv again,” 

Thomas answered, going over to turn the knobs and such over again. There was no luck, for the televisions screen remained black. 

“Nope.” 

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard from the front door, causing a few people to rush over and see what had caused the ruckus. Thomas, Burr, Peggy, and John examined the broken glass scattered on the floor for a moment, confused on what to do. Peggy rushed back into the kitchen to grab a broom as John bends down to pick up a fairly large rock lying on the ground amongst the glass.

“Guys, I’m not sure this was caused by the storm.” 

It was then that Peggy came back with the broom, a confused expression on her golden face when her eyes landed on the giant rock John was holding. 

“Where did you get that from?” 

The woman asked, already beginning to sweep up the glass debris before anyone could get cut. 

“I’m not sure, I think it was thrown through the window.”

Then just slightly, Burr noticed a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye, making him crane his head towards the broken window. Going a bit closer to it, his eyes widened as he pulled back sharply, grabbing the coat hanger they had on the other side of the door to put in front of the window, making sure the coats covered as much of the frame as possible.

“There are soldiers outside. Everybody get upstairs to Angelica.  _Now_ .” 

Nobody dared question Burr, and simply ran back to Hercules and Eliza, who was still sitting with Alex and Laf. Thomas didn’t say anything, only made a few hand signals gesturing to follow them upstairs. 

_ “ We gotta go there are soldiers outside,” _

Peggy whispered, shaking Lafayette out of his slumber, and pulling him up by his arm to get him to start moving. Eliza tapped Alex lightly on the shoulder to get his attention, linking arms with him to help him up from where he was. Hercules followed close behind, making sure nobody was forgotten in the group as they went upstairs. The storm continued to grow stronger, constantly banging on the roof and walls making Alex flinch. Tightening her grip, Eliza held on to him to remind him that he wasn’t by himself. 

It was pitch black, and the group attempted to stay as quiet as possible while fumbling around the dark house and up the stairs. They all held onto each other, whether it be grabbing each other’s shirts or having arms and hands attached, and moved at the fastest pace they could go without tripping and falling. The house seemed so much more sinister and unfamiliar in the darkness, as if they were in an unknown place with no way out. Only the clasping of everyone’s hands onto another persons clothing or limbs told them that they weren’t alone in the black void. 

The group finally made it to Angelica’s room, with Thomas at the front opening the door for the others to follow into. Peggy ran to shake her older sister awake as the rest of them made sure the curtains were closed and they had a place to hide if needed. After only one shake, Angelica stirred, still in a state of confusion as to why she was being woken up. By then Lafayette had recovered and was fully conscious, the fear and seriousness of the situation kick starting his nerves awake. He kept checking the door anxiously, waiting for Burr to come running up the stairs to safety. Alas, seconds passed, and the seconds turned into minutes yet there was still no sign of Aaron. Lafayette struggled to listen for footsteps against the pouring rain and howling wind outside but he continued to keep his ear to the door, hoping for a sign that Burr was there. When Angelica and the others finished locking the windows and covering them with sheets they had around, they all dispersed, each separating into smaller groups around the room. Peggy and John sat together in a corner silently, unable to speak to each other. They leaned against each other, the both of them sort of in their own world just staring off into space. Alex, Eliza, and Thomas were in their own small huddle, Alex still clinging to Eliza’s side fearfully, except now wrapped in a blanket with her. Eliza was focused on the hem of her skirt, at the moment pulling at a stray thread she’d found from it. Angelica paced the room alone, waking up to a crisis like this wasn’t the most pleasant and it jolted her into a state of immense worry as well as concern for the others and her own safety extremely quickly. Meanwhile, Laf continued to stand against the door, waiting for movement outside. Hercules came up behind him and placed a hand on the shorter mans shoulder, causing him to jump a small bit in surprise. 

“I’m sure Burr is ok, and he’ll be here with us very soon,” 

Hercules reassured Lafayette, who stepped a bit closer for comfort in the unpredictable situation. Together, they stood against the door waiting for Burr to come up the steps and join the rest of them in Angelica’s room. 

A few more minutes pass, and there is nothing. Only the crashing of branches against the walls and heavy rain slamming down onto the roof was heard. The entire group was now worried, afraid of the worst that Burr may have been found or he’d been hurt and he was stuck someplace where they couldn’t get to him. Every second longer, Lafayette was closer snd closer to going down himself and finding Burr. 

“Herc, I think I’m gonna go find Aaron,” 

Lafayette whispered into the ear of the man beside him, who gave an alarmed expression in return.

“Laf you can’t. We don’t know who’s down there and Burr knows how to take care of himself, we have to trust that he knows what he’s doing,” 

Lafayette shook his head slightly, stepping back an inch readying himself to leave the room.

“I have to find him, what if he’s hurt?” 

“No Laf, please don’t,” 

Lafayette ignored him as he turned towards the door handle, staring at it for a moment in an attempt to muster up enough courage to open it and walk out into the black, unknown territory. The others in the room were oblivious to what Laf was about to do, and simply stayed in their places when he put a hand on the knob. Just as Lafayette was about to turn the handle and open the door however, it opened itself courtesy of another person. The surprised man jumped back, away from the door and falling into Hercules, who fell over as well to the floor. There was someone else on the other side.

The entire groups attention focused on the door instantly, nervously waiting to see if the person would be a friend, or foe. 

To their relief, the door opened wide to reveal an out of breath Aaron Burr, who quickly shut the opening behind him. There was a simultaneous breath of ease, the knowledge that it was only Burr calming them down. 

“Hey Laf, are you and Herc okay? Sorry if I scared you,” 

Both Lafayette and Hercules were still on the floor on top of each other, clinging to each other in terror. After realizing what position they were in, they quickly detached from each other and stood up swiftly, silently thankful that the others in the room couldn’t see their red faces from embarrassment. 

“No-yeah, we’re fine...”

Lafayette responded quietly, looking away from both men and going to sit with Peggy and John, who were smirking at each other in amusement. 

“Ok then.” 

Making sure the door was locked behind him, Aaron went to go sit down by Thomas and the others, stealing a bit of the blanket Eliza had previously wrapped around her and Alexander’s shoulders. 

“What took you so damn long Burr? We thought you died.”

Thomas questioned him, a hint of tension-breaking humor in the dramatic mans tone. 

“I had to go make sure all the doors and windows were locked, and I put sheets over them as well.”

“Ah, makes sense. Are there really soldiers outside?”

“Yes you idiot! Why would I make you all hide in this room if there weren’t?”

Thomas shrugged a bit before answering the younger man again.

“I don’t know, it could be you just overreacting again and thinking that the wind outside was a bunch of soldiers in the city. We never know with you.”

Burr groaned, putting his hands against his face in disbelief.

“Fine then. See if I’ll go risk my life for your ungrateful ass again.”

“Well, that rock thrown through the window wasn’t very natural I’d say,” 

John piped up from where he sat against the wall in another corner. Peggy and Angelica nodded in agreement with his statement to help back him up. 

“See?” 

Thomas opened his mouth to argue again when an especially loud bang came from outside the house, sounding almost like gunshots. The group collectively flinched, all scooting a tad closer to each other. Peggy, Lafayette, John, and Angie joined the others on the other side of the room, bringing their blankets with them as well to share. There they sat, together as a group, wishing this disaster would be over already. 

Slowly but surely, each of them fell asleep in turn, until the only two left awake were Eliza and Alex. 

“Hey Eliza?”

Alex breathed out softly from under the many comforters he was under. Eliza opened her eyes slightly, turning to look at the smaller male beside her. 

“What’s up?”

There was a pause, and all they could hear were the airy snores and breathing from everyone else along with the slightly-calmer storm outside, who’s rain had died down a considerable amount.

“Thanks for being here for me today,” 

The familiar warmth from earlier found its way into Eliza’s stomach once again, as the smile grew on her face. 

“I’ll always be here for you, Alex,” 

Alexander sleepily grinned back, sighing contently. Within seconds, he was asleep with everyone else, leaving Eliza as the last person awake. For a bit, she stared at Alex’s peaceful resting face, taking in his features. Slowly but surely however, her eyes grew heavy and began to close themselves and the peace of sleep over took her, falling over her like a heavy veil. 

_“I’ll always be here for you Alex.”_

_Yet another lie._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Sorry I haven’t been updating as consistently as I wanted to I’ve had a lot to do recently. As always, thank you so much for kudos and I hope to update next week(though that most likely won’t happen). Love you all<3


	6. Chapter Five

_** April 15, 1952 ** _

It’s an odd thing, to love someone. Some days it could be the most amazing thing to happen to you, and it fills your heart to the brim with pure happiness from just a touch. Other days, all that remained was bitter hurt and the aching need to cry till your eyes were swollen, and the blanket or pillow you hugged tightly was damp with salty tears. You couldn’t live life with only one, it seemed to be a package deal. At least, that’s what Eliza thought when Alexander announced he was leaving to join the military and fight in the war. 

Naturally, nobody agreed with him, saying things along the lines of “That’s a horrible idea!” And “What are you thinking?”. But Eliza was especially against the idea, having spoken more in that conversation combined since they found out about the war. 

“What has gotten into you?” It had only taken about one sentence to escape from Alex’s lips about the war for her to instantly reject the idea entirely and protest.

“Leave to join the war? You’re joking, right? Theses no possible way you’d even actually consider this Alex?”

The hesitation coming from the younger man was all Eliza needed in order to send her into a full on lecture directed toward him. The others could only stare in shock, they had never seen Eliza so worked up over something. The way she was speaking was similar to how Burr acted on a daily basis, and they almost couldn’t believe it was not Aaron but in fact, Elizabeth Schuyler berating Alex with her words.

Normally, in a situation like this Eliza would stay in the background, quietly fiddling with her clothes and not daring to even look another person in the eyes, but this time it was different. Eliza’s face was nearly crimson red caused by a combination of talking quickly and rushed, and the outrage that she was currently expressing to him as she stood rigidly in front of Alex, her stance tense and filled with anger. Poor Alexander simply stood in utter surprise at the outburst the woman dressed in blue exerted to him, too taken back to even utter a word. 

“Alexander Hamilton, what the hell is wrong with you? I bring you into our home, give you food and clothing, make sure you’re taken care of, and you thank me by going off and trying to get yourself killed?”

That wasn’t even close to where she stopped, Eliza continuing to yell at Alex for the next few minutes, only stopping to breathe after an entire monologue to him. 

It was quiet in the room for a few moments, everyone slightly afraid of angering Eliza more than before. This didn’t last long however, for Alex- being the stubborn person he was- did not give into Eliza’s disagreements and deciding the best choice was to yell back. 

“I’m sorry Eliza, but this is my decision and you can’t stop me. I never asked to stay with you all, you just showed up randomly and dragged me back here. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you kidnapped me. I’m going to fight in the war and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Wrong choice.

There was a short-lived moment in which it was a terrifying silence in the room. The calm before the storm. Nobody dared to even breathe too loud, the tense atmosphere and crushing anticipation on what Eliza’s response would be stopping them from even moving too fast.

“Excuse me?”

It was in this second that Alexander realized he really screwed up this time.

“I cannot believe you have the  _ audacity  _ to sit here and say that I basically kidnapped you, when I quite literally saved your goddamn life. You were just a poor, Caribbean immigrant when you first got here, barely knowing English. I know for a certain fact that you would have gotten mugged or something if I hadn’t come along to help you. When I first met you, you were wandering around the streets of Canandaigua aimlessly with absolutely no place to call home. I gave you a home, and I even gave you more than that. I gave you friends, comfort, dare I say even family. You know, I thought you were actually a good person Alex, I did. When others were skeptical of letting you live here, I defended you. Because I thought that I could help you. I thought that I would be able to give you a place to call home that you quite clearly didn’t have. I was always there for you, and even when you told me secrets that I shouldn’t have known, I still kept them to myself. I never exposed you to the others, I kept your words private. And for you to just leave it all behind hurts. We all know that there is no winning in war. I don’t want to have to sit here every day waiting for a letter from you just to let me know that you’re alive and ok. That’s not how I’m going to live my life, so if you leave now, don’t expect me to answer letters or anything of the sort. Goodbye Alexander.”

There was no reaction, no emotion written on Eliza’s face when she left Alex standing there on his own. She simply turned, and walked out the door with no intention on coming back for a good long while. It was so much more than Alex had realized, but there was nothing for him to do but say his goodbyes to the others, and head off to an unknown future as a soldier fighting in the war. The others refrained from protesting his choice after what had happened, and simply told him that he was of course welcome to write home to them. Even Thomas and John had said a proper goodbye to the man, despite their genuine dislike for him. They felt a bit guilty. It certainly wasn’t everyday that you got the misfortune of seeing Eliza as angry as she was, and the results of it could almost be a bit traumatizing for a person. They had only seen this side of Eliza maybe once or twice in their entire lives spent knowing her, and it always rattled them as well, whether it was directed towards them or not. Nevertheless, Alex went through with his plan of being a part of the war, and left shortly after the fight.

Today Alex realized the reason it was so nerve-racking when Eliza was angry. It was not because she was yelling, or even that normally she was one of the kindest, most caring people to ever walk this earth. 

It was because everything she had said was absolutely true.

* * *

She couldn’t believe it. After all of that, he was still leaving. She had such high hopes for him, and now it’s all gone. He has taken her blooming flowers, and smashed them mercilessly into the ground. The petals lay pressed into the concrete, torn into pieces. The stem was broken down, clear liquid dripping from it slowly where it is sadly positioned on the cold pavement in ruins. There is no sun, no warmth. It is cold, desolate, and empty where the fragmented flower lays, alone. Perhaps this time, she was wrong about the hidden thorns.

* * *

“She rarely leaves her room, Thomas.” 

Angelica Schuyler said worriedly to the coily haired man, who was currently counting the money they had made that day at Angie’s flower shop that day as a part of shutting down for the evening. 

“It’s concerning.”

“What do you want me to do? Ask her to go out into the world in the middle of a goddamn world war?”

Jefferson threw his hands up while holding an empty envelope with a hint of annoyance towards the older woman, who had been going on and on about Eliza for the last week or so.

“Maybe it’s better if she doesn’t leave the house. I mean, at least we know where she is and that she’s safe rather than her just wandering freely and is being in the dark about where she is, right?”

“You and I both know that Alex leaving hit her pretty hard. I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

The other only groaned and slumped down intobar seat just as Madison entered the shop right on time the same as any other day. 

“What’s up you two?” 

Madison asked as he set his bag down on the counter next to Angelica, sifting through the packages and cards to find Thomas and Angie’s mail for the day.

“Angelica is doing her daily “worry about Eliza” routine like always,”

A small chuckle came from James as he finally found the couple pieces of mail that belonged to the other two, handing the envelopes each respectively to their owners. Angelica scowled at Jefferson as she turned back to her letters, discarding the junk mail and opening only the ones that seemed important. Thomas did the same, throwing advertisement mail and other random newspapers into the pile with Angelica’s trash, moving on to the two normal letter he had. One was for the electricity bill on the flower shop, which Jefferson set aside on the counter to handle later, and the other was a seemingly plain marked envelope, with only the small print of an unknown emblem in the corner and the name of Thomas Jefferson in the center, making it addressed to him. It was a white and army green logo, with the simple picture of a star encircled by a white line around it. Underneath the stamp were the barely visible words of  _ “U.S Army”  _ on it in the same green as the emblem. Thomas was slightly confused, why was he getting a letter from the U.S Army? 

“Hey Angelica, come look at this,” 

The man held the letter out to Angelica, who took it and examined it curiously, opening it grab out the paper and read it. Waiting expectantly, both Madison and Jefferson gave off equally concerned as well as lost expressions at Angelica when she gasped loudly after reading the beginning of the letter. 

“What? What did it say?”

Without even answering Thomas, the eldest Schuyler sister simply pursed her lips and handed the letter back to him to read for himself, not saying a word as she sat back down at the dark wooden countertop. Watching her as she sat back behind the ledge, Thomas noticed her body language, and the expression in her face. She was sad, almost defeated in a way, and fear along with a hint of hurt was carried in her brown pupils. Judging by the way Angelica seemed, Jefferson could already tell that no type of good news was in the letter he held. With sweaty palms(when had his hands become damp with anxiety?), Thomas could feel the perspiration slicked uncomfortably on the back of his neck as he opened the white sheet of paper, beginning to read the black ominous words to himself. There was the shortest pause, Madison waiting for an answer to be given to him, staring intently at Thomas with the paper, and Angelica only watching with now-blank eyes, the initial shock of the most recent news in her life passing through and disappearing leaving only guarded emptiness behind. 

Then just as quickly as it had began, the moment was over, and Thomas leaned against the front desk of the flower shop with the same look Angelica had previously, the letter floating down to the tile floor lightly, his spirits sinking along with it. Taking a short breath before turning back to the others, Jefferson gave a heavy look to James. 

“I’m getting drafted into the war...”

_ What are we supposed to do now? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY CRAP I AM SO SORRY   
> It took me so long to update this and I feel so bad oh god.   
> I had so much to do these last few months and corona definitely hasn’t helped but i swear I’m not gonna stop putting out chapters, they just may take a bit longer to come out. Anyways, thank you so much for reading and being patient with me, and I hope you enjoy the chapter:)  
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is actually my first time posting my works on Archive so sorry if I mess up formatting and such, I’m still figuring it all out! I don’t have much to put here so I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I hope to have the next one up within a week, and thanks for reading<3


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